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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27536686">You're Welcome (Any Time)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/pseuds/speccygeekgrrl'>speccygeekgrrl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>White Collar (TV 2009)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Banter, Flirting, Gift Giving, Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:20:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>493</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27536686</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/pseuds/speccygeekgrrl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter has something for Neal, but first, he's going to annoy Neal just for the fun of it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke/Neal Caffrey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You're Welcome (Any Time)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For the prompt "Employee Appreciation"</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What's this for?" Neal asked when Peter handed him a small, neatly wrapped present when he got in the car.</p><p>"It's Employee Appreciation Day," Peter said.</p><p>"I would appreciate if you wouldn't call me an employee," Neal said with a wince. "Isn't a consultant a freelancer?"</p><p>"That's funny," Peter said, "you're funny. Freelancing." He had that particular grin he got when he was planning on annoying Neal as much as he could, which meant that Neal had two options: he could try to out-annoy him (the riskier choice, with a higher chance of backfiring), or he could try to make something more appealing than his irritation. "You can go back to freelancing after I'm done with you."</p><p>"I don't mind you having your way with me as long as you respect me," Neal said, "but if you're doing to deny me the dignity of <em>partner</em>..."</p><p>"Are you going to open that?" Peter asked, with a pointed glance down. </p><p>Neal deftly unwrapped the gift without tearing the paper to uncover a box that opened to reveal one plain silver key. He picked it up to inspect the cuts and cut a curious look at Peter. "It's a house key."</p><p>"It's a key to my house," Peter said, and wait a second, that wasn't the annoying grin. That was a whole different look. Neal hadn't seen this look on Peter's face before; it was a little like his plan-went-off-perfectly grin, with a hint of his comfy-at-home smile around the eyes, and a good deal of the look Peter usually had on his face when Neal caught him watching Neal from across the bullpen at the FBI.</p><p>"You're giving me a key to your house?" All the times Neal had broken in flashed through his mind guiltily, but none of that made it into his voice along with his genuine astonishment.</p><p>"El's tired of you picking the lock every couple weeks," Peter said. Neal lowered his lashes and didn't confirm or deny the accusation. "And... we want you to know that you're welcome in our home. You let yourself in without knocking anyways, but now you know that we want you there."</p><p>"It's not really Employee Appreciation Day, is it?" Neal asked, trying to give himself a few more seconds to come up with a response to being welcomed into the Burke home that wasn't tears in his eyes. </p><p>"Nah. That's in March. We weren't going to wait that long." Peter reached over and gently curled Neal's hand around the key. "We were hoping you'd come by sooner than that." </p><p>"How's tonight?" Neal asked. He needed to make a joke or he was going to say something really, really stupidly revealing. "But you have to promise to still respect me in the morning." </p><p>"Oh, we're not going to do anything more disgraceful with you than what I already know you've done," Peter said cheerfully, squeezed Neal's hand, and put the car into gear. "Don't worry... partner."</p>
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